The simple basic rules of Backgammon
The goal of the game is simple: Move all 15 of your checkers across the board once and then be the first to remove them from the board.
Each player starts with 15 checkers in a predetermined starting position. Two dice are rolled. The numbers rolled indicate how many spaces the checkers may be moved.
The checkers always move in only one direction across the board. If a checker lands on a space already occupied by two or more opponent's checkers, that space is blocked and cannot be entered.
However, if there is only a single opponent's checker on a space, it can be hit. The hit checker goes to the "bar" in the middle of the board and must be re-entered into the game before any further moves can be made.
The combination of luck and strategy makes it particularly exciting. The dice determine the available options, but the player decides what to do with them.
Once all your checkers have reached the last quadrant of the board, the bearing off begins. Now, the checkers can be removed from the board one by one: if a 6 is rolled, you can take a checker from the 6-point. If there is no checker on the 6-point, you can take a checker from the next point, i.e., the 5-point, from the board into your home.
The player who is first to bear off all 15 checkers wins.
Simple enough for a cozy evening. Complex enough to still be thinking about the next move after thousands of games.
